A Few of My Favorite Things:
Playing Piano, Baking, and Writing
I loved playing piano as a child, but when I got to the music school at Indiana University, it seemed like everyone else was a better musician. I still liked playing, but I got nauseated whenever I had to perform. I finished my degree in piano and psychology and stopped playing.
Playing piano stopped making me happy.
I did my graduate degree in voice, worked in various musical and non-musical positions, and occasionally sat down to play, but it was frustrating because I’d lost the dexterity that I’d worked hard to achieve. Recently, after over thirty years, I’ve come back to it, and now I’m playing a little, nearly every day. I warm up my fingers and read through one Chopin prelude, one Bach fugue.
It makes me happy, playing piano again.
The children grew up, and just when the last one went off to college, I was diagnosed with cancer. It took over a year, but they eradicated it. During my recovery, I recognized that it was time to start doing those things I’d always dreamt of doing, while I still could. Like taking baking classes. Like writing a book. Even before the ordeal, I wrote a little every day: a poem, a song, a 500-page manuscript that meandered in all directions.
It makes me happy, writing.
I found a wonderful editor who helped me polish the pages of a mystery and guided me through the publishing process. We became good friends, and she invited me with two other writers to be part of an accountability squad. We try to meet each week to share what we’ve accomplished and commit to what we want to accomplish in the following week. It used to be in person, but for the past few years, we meet online. I came to love these women and value their distinct talents, their generosity, their warmth. I have them listed on my calendar as “Indispensables,” or “The Squad.”
Having them in my life makes me happy.
After my first book was published, I joined the group Sisters in Crime Chicagoland. Soon after, I volunteered to do communications for the board, and I liked meeting other writers and writing engaging posts to encourage people to attend our events. Last year we decided to write welcoming letters to all our members.
Building new relationships makes me happy.
That’s how I met Tracey, who did her undergrad degree at Berklee College of Music, down the road from where I did my masters at New England Conservatory. She teaches piano, and her debut novel was published in 2019, the same year as my debut novel. We started emailing back and forth, and she let me read a draft of the follow-up book to her debut, which is now enticing me, sitting on my bed table. Tracey’s got writing chops, and as soon as it’s ready, I plan to recommend her follow-up novel to my publisher. I’ve already sent two authors to him.
It makes me happy, connecting people with each other.
Turns out that Tracey founded the group Blackbird Writers, crime and mystery authors who band together to support each other’s book marketing efforts. Tracey couldn’t have known that it was my dream to be in a supportive group of crime writers who review each other’s books, share each other’s good news, and jointly host a blog among other things. When she invited me, I nearly wept with joy and immediately started downloading and reading my fellow Blackbird writers’ books.
It makes me happy, having a group of writing friends who support each other.
I hope I can continue playing piano, finding indispensable friends, connecting friends with each other, baking, being part of a group of colleagues, and writing murder mysteries. I wake up each day knowing that I’m going to make time for these and more of my favorite things. Stretching every morning while my husband reads out loud to me, cuddling on the sofa with a juicy novel, interviewing authors of literary fiction for the New Books Network, playing my guitar and singing only for myself, spending time with my adult children, and cuddling with my daughter’s baby.
The world hasn’t been equally kind to everyone, and I wish I could bottle everything I’ve been blessed with: a loving family, an FDA-approved cure for my cancer just a year before my diagnosis, the ability to live in warmth and comfort. I’d gladly pour it like wine for those who are struggling with loss, depression, loneliness, or poverty. I’d share it with those who are angry, seeking revenge, or unable to compromise.
If you’re battling any of that, I’d recommend that you focus on a few of your favorite things and do them every day. It could make you happy.
G.P. Gottlieb is the author of Charred: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery (D.X. Varos Publishing 2023), the third in her culinary mystery series. She is host for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network, and has interviewed over 170 authors. You can read more about her at gpgottlieb.com.
